The 15th of Sha’ban – May 1, 2015

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

May 1, 2018is the 15th of Sha’ban this year, the 15th day of the eighth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The preceding night is known as Laylatul Bara’ahor Laylatun Nisfe minSha’banin the Arab world, and as Shab-e-barat in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, and Afghanistan. These names are translated to the Night of Records, the Night of Assignmentand the Night of Deliverance. The observance involves a festive nightlong vigil with prayers, feasting and illumination.

Muslims observe Mid-Sha’ban as a night of worship and salvation; it is a night noted for its great blessings and virtues, when Allah determines the destiny of all people, including whether a person lives or dies in the coming year. For this reason it is sometimes called the “Night of Emancipation.” The date also may commemorate the saving of Noah’s followers from the deluge by Allah.

The Qur’an describes it as the blessed night, and fortunate indeed are those who attain the full blessings and benefits of this night by spending it in performing good and refraining from evil.

‘Ali (pbuh) narrates that the Prophet (saws) said,“When it is the fifteenth of Sha’ban, then stand (in worship) at night and fast during the day. Because Allah subhanahu wata’aala descends in this night at sunset to the first heaven and says: ‘Is there any seeker of forgiveness, that I may forgive him? Is there any seeker of sustenance, that I may sustain him? Is there anyone in affliction, that I may remove his affliction? And so on. This continues until Fajr, the dawn prayer.” – (Ibn Mãjah)

SUPPLICATION ON THE NIGHT OF 15th SHA’BAN

O Allah! You shower favours on everyone
And no one can do You any favour.
O The Possessor of Majesty and Honour,
O The Distributor of bounty and rewards,
There is no one worthy of worship except You.
You help the fallen
And provide refuge to the refugees And give peace to those who are in fear.

O Allah! If in the Mother of All Books that is with You
You have written me down as someone who is
Doubtful of achieving salvation, or deprived,
Or rejected or without enough sustenance,
Then, O Allah, with Your Grace
Remove all of these misfortunes from me
and in the Mother of All Books that is with You,
establish me as someone who is
blessed, with abundant provision and charitable good deeds.
Indeed, what You said in The Book You sent
Through the tongue of Your Blessed Prophet is true
That Allah changes and establishes what He wants
And with Him is the Mother of All Books.

O My Lord! For the sake of Your Divine Manifestation
On this fifteenth night of the blessed month of Sha’ban
In which You issue all Wise and Irrevocable Decrees
Remove from us all calamities and hardships,
those that we know about as well as those that we don’t,
while You know everything.
Truly, You are the Most Powerful, Most Generous.

And may Allah the Exalted shower blessings and peace on
Sayyidina Muhammad, and on his family and his companions
And all praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds.